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Actually, the representation of the ancestral diet being primarily meat is incorrect - outside of a few examples where there just weren’t many plants available.

by ianai 7y ago

Actually, the representation of the ancestral diet being primarily meat is incorrect - outside of a few examples where there just weren’t many plants available. Largely, humans ate what they happened upon. Meat was a scarce byproduct of another predators meal. Ie we ate what the big cats left behind. Furthermore, the ultra refined and concentrated foods we now eat didn’t exist until very recently. The amount of sugar cane needed to produce a single can of soda isn’t something any human would sit down to eat. Edit-changed are to ate

chrisco255 7y ago
Humans evolved during the ice age. There were no vegetables in large enough quantities to feed the human brain's massive growth over the past million years. Every single paleolithic cave art depicts animals and hunting techniques. Fossil evidence from millions of years ago show bone scrapes on zebra and reindeer bones in human caves. We evolved to hunt wooly mammoths twice the size of elephants for goodness sake. We decimated whole populations of megafauna. You would have to go back 4-6 million years ago to find scavenger ancestors.
- cageface 7y ago
  Cooking is very likely the reason humans suddenly had access to far more calories to support a larger brain. The idea that an organ like the brain that feeds directly on glucose was supported by animal fat and protein just doesn’t hold up to serious scrutiny.
  - chrisco255 7y ago
    The brain is incidentally 60% fat. And all the glucose the brain requires can be synthesized from lactic acid. There are entire societies that live off of 99% meat. They live their entire lives with almost no vegetable intake whatsoever, and their brains develop and function perfectly normal. In contrast, consuming too much glucose can wreak all sorts of havoc on the brain, spurring excessive consumption, type 2 diabetes, and has been linked with Alzheimer's. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3577529/ https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3577529/ https://www.nih.gov/news-events/news-releases/higher-brain-glucose-levels-may-mean-more-severe-alzheimers https://www.nih.gov/news-events/news-releases/higher-brain-g...
    - ianai 7y ago
      https://www.alzheimersanddementia.com/article/S1552-5260(17)33765-2/pdf https://www.alzheimersanddementia.com/article/S1552-5260(17)... “Studies have shown that type 2 diabetes can be a risk factor for Alzheimer’s disease, vascular dementia and other types of dementia because cardiovascular problems associated with diabetes are also associated with dementia. These include: Obesity Heart disease or family history of heart disease Impaired blood vessels Circulation problems High cholesterol High blood pressure Research has also proved that, similar to diabetes, glucose is not used properly in the brains of people with Alzheimer’s disease. ” https://alzheimer.ca/en/Home/About-dementia/Alzheimer-s-disease/Risk-factors/Diabetes-dementia-connection https://alzheimer.ca/en/Home/About-dementia/Alzheimer-s-dise...
      - chrisco255 7y ago
        I'm not sure of your point, because the parent comment mentioned animal fats and protein not being a primary food source for paleolithic humans and their ancestors (which is not what the fossil evidence shows AT ALL, we created spears and bows and arrows and various hunting strategies and tools that are well documented, for millions of years). But with regards to your type 2 diabetes comment, type 2 diabetes is strongly associated with diet intake of excessive carbohydrates. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/30289048 https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/30289048 https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/books/NBK499830/ https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/books/NBK499830/ You don't need carbs in your dietary intake. Your body can synthesize carbs from fat, just as it can synthesize fat from carbs.
RomanBob 7y ago
>we ate what the big cats left behind. humans can hunt

by ianai 7y ago

chrisco255 7y ago

Humans evolved during the ice age. There were no vegetables in large enough quantities to feed the human brain's massive growth over the past million years. Every single paleolithic cave art depicts animals and hunting techniques. Fossil evidence from millions of years ago show bone scrapes on zebra and reindeer bones in human caves. We evolved to hunt wooly mammoths twice the size of elephants for goodness sake. We decimated whole populations of megafauna. You would have to go back 4-6 million years ago to find scavenger ancestors.

cageface 7y ago
Cooking is very likely the reason humans suddenly had access to far more calories to support a larger brain. The idea that an organ like the brain that feeds directly on glucose was supported by animal fat and protein just doesn’t hold up to serious scrutiny.
- chrisco255 7y ago
  The brain is incidentally 60% fat. And all the glucose the brain requires can be synthesized from lactic acid. There are entire societies that live off of 99% meat. They live their entire lives with almost no vegetable intake whatsoever, and their brains develop and function perfectly normal. In contrast, consuming too much glucose can wreak all sorts of havoc on the brain, spurring excessive consumption, type 2 diabetes, and has been linked with Alzheimer's. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3577529/ https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3577529/ https://www.nih.gov/news-events/news-releases/higher-brain-glucose-levels-may-mean-more-severe-alzheimers https://www.nih.gov/news-events/news-releases/higher-brain-g...
  - ianai 7y ago
    https://www.alzheimersanddementia.com/article/S1552-5260(17)33765-2/pdf https://www.alzheimersanddementia.com/article/S1552-5260(17)... “Studies have shown that type 2 diabetes can be a risk factor for Alzheimer’s disease, vascular dementia and other types of dementia because cardiovascular problems associated with diabetes are also associated with dementia. These include: Obesity Heart disease or family history of heart disease Impaired blood vessels Circulation problems High cholesterol High blood pressure Research has also proved that, similar to diabetes, glucose is not used properly in the brains of people with Alzheimer’s disease. ” https://alzheimer.ca/en/Home/About-dementia/Alzheimer-s-disease/Risk-factors/Diabetes-dementia-connection https://alzheimer.ca/en/Home/About-dementia/Alzheimer-s-dise...
    - chrisco255 7y ago
      I'm not sure of your point, because the parent comment mentioned animal fats and protein not being a primary food source for paleolithic humans and their ancestors (which is not what the fossil evidence shows AT ALL, we created spears and bows and arrows and various hunting strategies and tools that are well documented, for millions of years). But with regards to your type 2 diabetes comment, type 2 diabetes is strongly associated with diet intake of excessive carbohydrates. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/30289048 https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/30289048 https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/books/NBK499830/ https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/books/NBK499830/ You don't need carbs in your dietary intake. Your body can synthesize carbs from fat, just as it can synthesize fat from carbs.

RomanBob 7y ago

>we ate what the big cats left behind. humans can hunt